Ewen Bridge under construction

Ewen Bridge under construction in 1994

The Hutt River bifurcates the entire Hutt Valley, and in Hutt City there are only four road bridges crossing it.  The only bridge from the southwest connecting Petone and the southwest (including Western Hutt Railway Station, once called Lower Hutt Station) is the Ewen Bridge, which was in need of replacement by the late 1980s. It had itself replaced an earlier bridge many decades before (see Bridge Street between Marsden and Parliament Street as the site of the previous crossing), but was structurally in need of strengthening or replacement, and its piers increased the risk of flooding at this point in the Hutt River. The bridge also only had two lanes eastbound and one westbound, constraining the capacity to handle growing traffic. The old bridge also only had a footpath on one side.

The new Ewen Bridge was opened in 1996, with two lanes in each direction, and a shared footpath/cyclepath on each side. This article from the Evening Post dated from December 1994 depicts it under construction, and the closure and demolition of the Alicetown flyover, which separates traffic on Railway Avenue from Marsden/Victoria Streets (which themselves connect Petone, Alicetown and Normandale). The flyover was replaced, and the Ewen Bridge today remains a critical link between Hutt City centre, Petone and the Western Hutt hills, as the Dowse Drive Interchange on SH2 (Western Hutt Road) means the Ewen Bridge is a direct, traffic signal free link between Hutt City centre and Wellington.